Hands-On Review of the KeySonic KSK-320I Mini Keyboard

I use Media Center a lot, and a few months ago I swapped my Sony Media Center PC for a Tranquil ixL machine. The major thing missing with the ixL was a small, wireless keyboard – and I think I have found one worthy of using!

Background

Like I mentioned above, I use Media Center a lot. And for the most part you can control Media Center with just a remote control. However, sometimes you need to create folders, rename files, etc, especially when dealing with a lot of media content.

With my old Sony Media Center this was no problem at all as it came with a compact wireless keyboard that had a trackpad on it. So whenever I needed to use the keyboard I just pulled it out from a hidden place and used it.

When I swapped over to the Tranquil ixL, I lost that keyboard facility.

At the time I wasn’t really bothered, I didn’t use it very often and so it was a great hardship to just plug in a keyboard and mouse when I needed to. However, more and more I find myself wanted to do things that just cannot be done with the remote and it is becoming a real pain to take down a mouse and keyboard, so I started looking around for small wireless keyboard.

I was actually surprised to find how little there was on the market for this. Yeah Lenovo have a nice keyboard, but but that was over £70 on sale and frankly I didn’t need it that much!

So after lots of searching I came across the KeySonic KSK-320I mini keyboard, and for £31 I figured I would give it a shot!

What’s In The Box?

The box is very small and is only a little bigger than the keyboard itself. Along with the keyboard you get a manual, a set of batteries and a small USB dongle for connecting the keyboard to your media center.

A Closer Look

On the underside of the keyboard is the battery compartment. If you open it to place the batteries in, you will notice a small slot to house the USB dongle when not in use. This is a very good idea as something this small is bound to go missing easily – so well done KeySonic!

The keyboard itself is small, like I mentioned, but is surprisingly easy to use. In fact its 226 x 24 x 127 mm! That is small, but yet still very useable.

The top right hand side has a tiny trackball that you can use with your thumb and works very well.

The top left hand side has two buttons – your left and right mouse buttons – and again, they work very well.

Using the Keyboard

As I have mentioned, the keyboard is very small and light and the keys are very easy to use. The trackpad was very simple to use as were the buttons. One of the things that used to wind me up about the Sony keyboard was that the trackpad was not very responsive and often had me doing simple tasks over and over again just to be able to click on something. This is not the case with this keyboard – it is a pleasure to use.

Connecting the 2.4 GHz RF USB dongle was simple and the drivers installed no problem. I didn’t even need to pair the keyboard to it as it worked straight out of the box. However if you needed to pair them its just a case of holding a few buttons and its done.

Final Thoughts

What can I say that I haven’t already said? I have found my mini keyboard and I love it! And for less than £31 I was very happy with the price.

You can learn more about KeySonic and their huge round from the KeySonic website.

I am the owner and editor of this site. I have been interested in gadgets and tech since I was a little kid. I have also written a number of books on various tech subjects. I also blog for The Huffington Post and for FHM. And I am honoured to be a Microsoft MVP since January 2008 - again this year as an Xbox MVP.

I've just had a look at the reviews on Amazon.co.uk for this – they're pretty poor which was a surprise after reading yours.

What are your thoughts on the wireless connection – is it workable over a distance of a couple of metres or more?

http://usingwindowshomeserver.com Andrew Edney

For me it works fine between my computer and the sofa – the further away I get the less responsive it gets

but for me its fine

AH

Keysonic brand is owned by Maxpoint GmBH. A new keyboard Keysonic KSK-320i and the retainer clip is broken before even using it. Rendered the keyboard useless. Finally found the Manufacture by chance one month later based in Germany as no contact or service information is within their manual. Contacted them with pictures and general proof and got told yes good idea to include our contact information in our manuals but no solution in favour of me. Return it to the shop where it was purchased was the most informative response I got- dispite telling them it was a gift.JUDGING FROM MY EXPIENCE- IN SUMMARY: BEST TO GIVE THIS BRAND AND COMPANY A WIDE BERTH AND PUT YOUR INVESTMENT TO A KEYBOARD WITH A COMPANY THAT WILL AT LEAST UNDERSTAND YOUR DISMAY AND CIRCUMSTANCES.